A Net Full of Holes

May 25, 2018

By Avi Rose

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During the past week, I’ve been fortunate to be both inspired and challenged by two powerful Jewish gatherings.

First was the annual Jewish Public Affairs Committee Advocacy Day in Sacramento, joining with 145 Jewish community leaders from across the state to learn about key issues and meet with legislators. A particular focus for us was asking legislators to support state assistance for low-income Holocaust survivors, something that has already been done in Illinois and New Jersey. This is an issue of acute concern to us at JFCS East Bay, with our longstanding commitment to—and daily involvement with—East Bay survivors. Like many older Californians, some survivors struggle to make ends meet and stay safely in their own homes. What’s unique is their urgent need for home care and other services that will help them avoid the re-traumatization of living in an institutional setting. I appreciated the opportunity to carry that message forward to our elected representatives and was moved by the depth of their concern.

We also advocated for legislation related to the overarching issues of poverty, economic disparities, and the lack of affordable housing. Here’s the core question: in our state’s current period of relative prosperity, isn’t this the time to raise the floor of assistance for the poorest and most vulnerable Californians? If not now, when?

Our “safety net” is full of holes, woefully inadequate to hold people up. During the last recession and its aftermath, poor people’s benefits were repeatedly cut and have not been restored to pre-2009 levels. “Fixed incomes” tend to get fixed at a very low level. In a state with an economy bigger than that of most countries, this is unconscionable. We are way out of balance.

Later in the week, I participated in the wonderfully exuberant and diverse Tikkun Leyl Shavuot at JCC East Bay, joining hundreds of people in observing the holiday by learning together, some sessions lasting till dawn. I co-led a session with Rabbi Andrew Kastner from Jewish Federation of the East Bay, looking at the recent Bay Area Jewish Community Study, particularly focusing on what it tells us about financial stress among East Bay Jews. In the report, we find that 23 percent of us are “just managing to make ends meet,” while another 2 percent report that we “cannot make ends meet.” That’s a lot of people, each one of whom has their own story, all deserving to be heard.

In the past few generations, the level of affluence in the U.S. Jewish community has increased overall, but there have always been significant disparities—for elders, for recent immigrants, for people with disabilities, and for many others for a myriad of reasons. Clearly we are not all wealthy, by background or by current position. And now, in this period of astronomical Bay Area housing costs, there are additional strains, including for young adults breaking into the job market, paying high rents, and dealing with student debt.

Financial hardship—and long-term poverty—are largely invisible in our Jewish community. There is often shame and stigma attached to financial need; it’s not easy to come forward, and some simply stay away from Jewish institutions as a result. We are all the poorer for that.

At our Shavuot session, we studied texts from Deuteronomy, pronouncing that “there shall be no needy among you” and “do not harden your heart and shut your hand against your needy kin.” As a community, we are mandated to share our resources equitably, ensuring that everyone has what they require. Sounds simple. But as is true with the statewide safety net, our local Jewish community safety net is full of holes.

We at JFCS East Bay are determined to change this situation, which will take a combination of community education, fundraising, and ongoing advocacy. You’ll be hearing more from us about all these things, and it can’t come a moment too soon.